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In this work we present a system for the automatic classification of the light curves of eclipsing binaries. This system is based on a classification scheme that aims to separate eclipsing binary systems according to their geometrical configuration in a modified version of the traditional classification scheme. The classification is performed by a Bayesian ensemble of neural networks trained with Hipparcosdata of seven different categories including eccentric binary systems and two types of pulsating light curve morphologies.

GRB 020410 is by far the longest γ-ray burst (with a duration of about 1600 s) to have been followed up from the X-ray through the radio regime. Afterglow emission was detected in X-rays and at optical wavelengths whereas no emission was detected at 8 GHz brighter than 120 μJy. The decaying X-ray afterglow, back-extrapolated to 11 h after the burst, had a flux of 7.9 $\times$10-12erg cm-2s-1(2–10 keV); the brightest detected so far. No direct redshift determination is available yet for this GRB, but according to the empirical relationship between the peak energy in the $\nu F_\nu$spectrum and the isotropic energy output, zis constrained in the range 0.9–1.5. The reconstructed optical afterglow light curve implies at least two breaks in the simple power law decay. This may be related to emergence of an SN, or refreshment of the external shock by a variation in the circumstellar medium. Considering the backward extrapolation of the 2–10 keV afterglow decay, the prompt lightcurve variability and its spectral evolution, we conclude that the long duration of this event is due to a prolonged activity of the “central engine”.

We imaged the error box of a gamma-ray burst of the short (0.5 s), hard type (GRB 000313), with the BOOTES-1 experiment in southern Spain, starting 4 min after the γ–ray event, in the I-band. A bright optical transient (OT 000313) with $I = 9.4 \pm 0.1$was found in the BOOTES-1 image, close to the error box (3σ) provided by BATSE. Late time $VRIK^\prime$-band deep observations failed to reveal an underlying host galaxy. If the OT 000313 is related to the short, hard GRB 000313, this would be the first optical counterpart ever found for this kind of events (all counterparts to date have been found for bursts of the long, soft type). The fact that only prompt optical emission has been detected (but no afterglow emission at all, as supported by theoretical models) might explain why no optical counterparts have ever been found for short, hard GRBs. This fact suggests that most short bursts might occur in a low-density medium and favours the models that relate them to binary mergers in very low-density environments.

We analyzed two 1996 observations of the Galactic Microquasar GRS 1915+105 taken with the Proportional Counter Array on board the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer. We focus on the properties of the high-frequency QPO as a function of the "dip"oscillations, a factor of 1000 slower. In one observation, 1996 May 5th, we find that the energy spectrum of the QPO at ~65 Hz changes drastically between the high-intervals and the dips, hardening during the dips to the point that the QPO peak is no longer detected at low energies. In the second observation, 1996 May 14th, although it has similar overall characteristics, the 65 Hz QPO is not seen, but another broader QPO peak appears at 27 Hz, only during the dips. This peak is too weak to obtain reliable information about its spectrum. Our results indicate that the presence/absence of high-frequency features in this enigmatic source are intimately linked to the slower oscillations and variations that happen on longer time scales.